Social Bite: Using Facebook To Launch A Cause

In the standard timeline of launching a business in the 21st century, creating a Facebook page and other social networks falls somewhere near the back end, after the business plan is completed, a lease is signed, a staff is hired and the grand-opening is scheduled.

But that’s not how it went down for OIA board member Rue Mapp, whose entrepreneurial story sprouted from a Facebook page and grew, exponentially and quickly, into one of our industry’s most impactful nonprofits that is helping to diversify our outdoorist community. In the video below, Mapp explains how Outdoor Afro grew organically from her attempt to connect with more people eager to engage with the outdoors but who didn’t know where or how to get started.

“When I sat in my kitchen and put together this Facebook group, I had no idea my whole life would be devoted to the cause of connecting people to the outdoors.” —Rue Mapp, OIA board member and founder of Outdoor Afro.